


A River of Words

by morecivilizedage



Category: Naruto
Genre: Alternate Universe - Fairytale, Alternate Universe - Fantasy, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-08-29
Updated: 2017-08-29
Packaged: 2018-12-21 13:03:57
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,506
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11944818
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/morecivilizedage/pseuds/morecivilizedage
Summary: Kakashi's just stalling for time.  By telling fairy stories.  That probably be something much more like a remix of a mission report, if he was the sort to write mission reports.  Or even had mission reports to write.Really, the things a shinobi does to get a drink…(...and maybe a home)For KakaIru Summerfest 2017, Prompt Classics 8.





	A River of Words

**Author's Note:**

> _let me paint you a river of words, from which you can drink._

“—so focused was Hound on deceiving the demons of his audience, that he had forgotten to count his steps.”

The storyteller paused, and made a show of muffling his yawn.

“Thus, as he took his final step back away from the demons—distracted and caught up in the thrall of his performance, Hound’s foot encountered not solid rock, but thin air!  Caught by surprise, he could not shift his balance, and instead tumbled back over the ledge and began to fall.

Still, Hound’s reflexes were swift, and he reached out his hand–  Hound reached out his hand to—” The storyteller’s words were swallowed by a loud, dramatic yawn.  The dim flickering light of the fire’s dying embers cast deep shadows over what little was visible of his face, only exaggerating the signs of weariness.

“Forgive me,” the storyteller managed at last, voice heavy with sleep “for I am mortal, and tired.  If it please you, may I rest and continue tomorrow?”

There was a huff and a low chuckle, and just past the edge of the fire, one could see the shift of a great form, rousing from stillness.  Kakashi remains still, unmoving, even as he can feel the displacement of the air as the large form moves around him.  He does not have to look to know that the great being had shifted to block off the entrance of the cave.  It seems impolitic to stare pointedly at the manacle already around his ankle, so Kakashi refrains.

There is a whine and a grumble farther back in the cave, a younger voice piping up in protest.

“But Iruka-nii, I want to hear more!”

There is that low chuckle again, now from behind and to Kakashi’s left.  He very deliberately does not flinch.

“And you will, Naruto.  Tomorrow,” comes a voice, mellowed with amusement, and always surprising Kakashi with its lightness.

"Thank you, honored spirit."  Kakashi replies, before finally standing up from the fire.  The spirit-steel of the manacle around his ankle clanks with his deliberate steps, even as a part of him inside cringes at making so much noise with his movements.  He draws out his neatly-folded blanket from his travel pack and sets it to the side.  He removes and rolles up his cloak to serve as a cushion, settling it over his pack to rest both under his head, before drawing the blanket over himself and curling up, back to the wall, to feign sleep for the next several hours until dawn, or he managed to snatch a catnap.  Whichever eventuality occurs first.  
  


Kakashi wakes from a sleep that was far deeper than he was comfortable to a face looming over him, blocking the streaming sunlight from the day.  The face itself is still in shadows, but he cannot make the shape of it more than the glittering of large, sharp teeth and deep brown eyes in amusement.  The shine of bright orange mane, as the sunlight filters through, seemingly setting it afire is disorienting, blazing bright, like sunbeams reflected off water.

Kakashi startles, badly.  His hand flies out searching for a weapon, and finding first his wooden 'travelling' staff, slams it upwards, where it breaks across the spirit's snout.  He's reaching for a kunai he is not meant to have, one of many secreted away on his body, when the spirit startles just as much, letting out a quiet cry of surprise or pain, the great form shifting back quickly.  The rattle of movement from the chain around his ankle, and the soft noise of stops Kakashi, almost a whimper, for all he would instead expect a roar. He freezes and makes the conscious effort to release his control over his breathing, letting his panic express as huge gasps for air, before he throws himself prostrate before the spirit—possibly-likely-Kyuubi—that he just  _ attacked _ .  He forces his breathing more ragged, even as he closes his eyes and counts his racing heart to slow it.

"F-forgive my unintended offense."  It takes less effort than Kakashi would like to force a stutter into his voice, his feigned fear is far too close to the truth.  He has bought Rin and Obito time, yes, but it hasn't yet been near enough.

"It seems I really managed to startle you."  The spirit sounds.... far more amused than angry.  Kakashi knows he has earned himself some grace, but given what rumors say of the Kyuubi's temper, he doubts it was truly that much.  It keeps niggling at him,  _ something is untrue _ , but he cannot seem to piece them together, to find the connecting threads that run underneath.

Still, Kakashi deems it wisest to not move from his posture of deference, yet.  Better safe than dead.  Besides, he can spring readily enough up and away if he needs too, or—forfeiting guile entirely—he knows several jutsu to have let the ground swallow him up and tunnel away.

The spirit huffs, and Kakashi braces lightly against it, the odd cool-damp of the spirit's breath ruffling through his hair.

"Very well.  Now sit up."

Kakashi springs up like a daisy, eyes curving upwards into grateful arcs.  The spirit snorts, as if withholding laughter, and turns away.

"After you eat, you may resume your tales."

Kakashi bows his head politely in reply.  
  


"Now, Magpie knew her friend Monkey was in danger in the hands of those hunters.  And, for all his silly tricks and playful antics, he was a true friend.  She couldn't leave him behind!   _ Those who abandon their friends are worse than trash! _ , Monkey would always say, and Magpie believed him.

Magpie followed Monkey and the hunters until they came to a small town, and went into a tavern to celebrate their newest capture.  She snuck up to the door, and using her Magpie magic, changed her appearance to a lovely young woman—exactly the kind that she knew the hunters would want to boast of their prize with.  She charmed them with her pretty magpie voice, and when they weren't looking poured a little bit of her magic potion into each of their drinks."

Kakashi can feel the shift of the great spirit's attention off of their...young charge back onto him the story, and Kakashi makes an effort to mind his next words.

"Now, it wasn't long after they drank the potion, before the cruel hunters began to—" drop dead like flies; Rin wasn't about to leave anything to chance, and she had a damn solid vicious streak when it came to protecting Obito.  Not that Kakashi objected.  They both did, really. "–feel very ill, and they all rushed quickly up and away to the lavatory, their faces were very green."

Kakashi pauses as the younger one, Naruto, breaks out in loud guffaws, echoing from where they are tucked away farther back into the cave.  It reminds him of Minato's helpless laughter.  He bites down hard on the inside of his cheek to keep from smiling.  He isn't supposed to be growing  _ fond _ of them.  A deliberate shift of his ankle, and the resulting quiet clank help remind him why.

Even if, other than what is—admittedly—a fairly reasonable safety precaution, these spirits have been kind.  One cannot trust the whims of spirits, and Kakashi refuses to be taken in.  That it has been almost full two weeks of consistent kindness and grace means nothing.  He can't let it.

With swift travel and careful planning, Rin and Obito should be able guide the rest of their small village to reach the new-found river within a day.  If Kakashi can capture and hold the Kyuubi's spirit  _ here _ just a little longer... By the time the spirit returns to patrolling its territory, Konoha will have had time to fortify and secure their wards and defenses, and, by the decree of the great Sage himself, if this small collection of humans was settled and not actively harassing the tailed beast on its hunting grounds, then Kyuubi cannot act against them.

Kakashi doesn't care all that much what happens to him after that.  
  


It was, officially, a mission on the search for fresh water.  With most shinobi clans constantly at war, battles constantly destroying and tearing up everything in their path, natural resources grew to be even more precious a commodity.  The only untouched land these days was closer and closer to the heart of tailed beast territory, their general dislike of humanity and vicious anger towards those who destroyed their property enough to scare off all but the most daring of shinobi.

It had been nearly three years since Kakashi, Rin, and Obito had been here last, at the foot of the great cliffs that lead into the great forest and valley of the Kyuubi's territory.  Then, Minato had been with them.  Fleeing from a battle they had no stake in, all of them wearied and injured and in no state to threaten anything, Minato had lead the four of them straight into the Kyuubi's territory, assuming that even their most determined of pursuers would not risk the wrath of Kyuubi. Of all the tailed beasts, Kyuubi was rumored to be the worst, and the cruelest—having been once harmed by humans, they held no regard for human life or welfare.

That Minato had found fresh water at all when he was scouting away short trips, trying to desperately find supplies for his former-students now teammates, was something miraculous.  Even now, Kakashi could remember the sweet taste of the mouthful of clean river water Minato had given him.  But the rumbling-snap of trees felled to as Kyuubi, in its anger, caused the ground to tremble had cut short their refuge, and Minato had left before being able to show them directly where the river lie, and never returned.

They were searching for fresh water.  They simply chose to go about it by searching for every hint of evidence they could find of Minato.

They did not find Minato.

They did find the river.

When they finally reached the banks the three of them were stunned speechless.  The water was so clean, so clear, that even around the whitecaps of the rushing current they could see straight down to the sun-golden stones of the riverbed.  Obito was just crouching down enough to let some of the water into his canteen, when Kakashi bolted upright solid-still, a chill rolling down his spine.

Rin was scanning the too-silent sky, and before Obito knew what had happened, she had grabbed his arm and was pulling him away.  There was a moment, when Kakashi and Rin's eyes met, before his fingers flashed like the lightning he was known for and his palms slammed into the ground, a great wall of earth launching up from beneath her and Obito's feet and propelling them onwards.

_ Go! _ he had ordered, silent, in the handsignals to give field commands.   _ I will follow _ .   Kakashi could just see the stubborn line stretch across Obito's face, mutinous, before Rin slammed a forceful hand between his shoulder-blades, forcing him forwards.  She signed a conformation back and lifted the both of them to the trees.

Kakashi had hastily stowed away his most obvious weapons, and tried to remember what it meant to be harmless.  Then a great shadow descended upon him, and he knew no more.  
  


"...Monkey, you must understand, loved fire, though he was not very good at making it.  Just as likely to set his own tail on fire as he was his enemies."

Even now, Kakashi does not know why the great spirit had first paused to spare his life, taking the time to ask questions.  It had been strange, waking up in the cave with the chain around his ankle, to a growling voice demanding answers to questions.

Who was he? Why, a just traveler on the road of life!  What did he want? Why, to travel the world and learn more tales of many great things!

The spirit had been quiet a few moments, likely in suspicion that Kakashi was a lying liar in spite of (or perhaps, because of) the wide grin of his eyes, before he had chuckled, and said with a surprisingly placid calm–

_ "Well met then, storyteller, for I have a young one who desires tales to be told." _

Kakashi resolutely refuses to admit that his grin froze into something more approximating rictus, before he smoothed it out with all his shinobi charm.

Something in it must have seemed genuine enough, for the spirit had allowed him to spin his tales, and—casting desperately about for something to tell—Kakashi had ended up spinning a long tale of the Greatest Hits of Team Seven. The young one's favorite was the embellished version of the time Obito had accidentally henged into a successful enough bear that a real one had taken and interest, and it had required Minato's intervention  _ and _ an entire angry hive of bees before Obito could get away.  The fact that it was all Kakashi and Rin could do to keep their footing on the tree they were crouched upon because they had been laughing so hard may or may not have influenced the level of help they received from him. Kakashi was rather partial to that story himself.

"This time, Monkey's flame was true, and the roof of the warlord's empty house caught on fire, just in time for him to catch sight of the flaming roof as monkey howled and laughed and scampered away with all of the warlord's stolen prizes."

It is two weeks and three days since he first started and he is running out of both stories and time.  It is hard to focus, when a large, warm body— _ Iruka's _ body—still hidden mostly from his sight, curls up around his back to settle against him.  He doesn't want to like them.  But it grows harder to distance himself, when the young one's laughter reminds him so much of Minato's cheer.  When he finds he has drifted off mid-word and wakes to his cloak and blanket tucked around his shoulders while his head rests on soft fur of the great spirit's mane, and a small bundle of baby spirit is burrowed into his side.  
  


Kakashi is making the most of indulging in today as a lazy morning, making a show of stretching dramatically to hide the fact that his instincts are screaming on high alert, leaving him terribly restless.

Three weeks, and Kakashi has reluctantly caved that he is starting to feel  _ attachment _ towards the spirit and his story-loving charge.  Even so, he is not expecting his exaggerated morning routine to be interrupted by Iruka snapping the chain around his ankle with a large claw.  Kakashi blinks in stunned surprise is about to ask why when Iruka brushes against him.  Kakashi freezes, and his voice catches in his throat.  He can  _ feel _ the anger build along the coiled muscles he is leaning against, like the split-calm before a dam breaks and the water held back sluices forward and tears down all remains of the construction that had held it in check.

"Shield-sworn?"  Naruto's voice sounds strange, like it is overlain with another, deeper and  _ older _ .  Those words sound familiar somehow, like something Kakashi learned once, but can't quite remember.  But that deeper timbre of voice...

"You will be coming with me, today," and there is anger rumbling in Iruka's voice, hot and sift like a flashflood.  "Someone dares trespass."  Kakashi moves to reach for his pack, but before he can do anything else, he is grabbed by a smaller form—must be Naruto—and the both of them are clinging to Iruka's back by the thick fur of his mane, pressed flat against Iruka's golden scales.

He turns to Naruto to ask him what this is all about, but in the bright light of day, the child's face not even a foot away from his own, Kakashi gets a true look at spirit for the first time.  Bright blue eyes and dandelion hair, with stripes across his face like those of a spirit and a human sharing flesh.  But that was something only the tailed beasts could do, and only if they had a willing human accept the burdern to host.  All noise is drowned out like the rush of air past his ears, and the only thing that leaves Kakashi's mouth is a not-believing, half-hysterical, half-hoping...

"–Minato?"

Iruka freezes beneath them both, and the dragon— _ for that is what Iruka is, Kakashi is suddenly now very certain _ —drops like a stone from the sky.  
  


"Kakashi!"

 

That's Rin's voice, Kakashi is certain of it.  But that makes no sense.  Just like it doesn't make any sense to feel Obito's grip hauling him up to his feet with this assistance of... Gai?  Probably Gai.

His head spins, and his vision is covered in black spots, only brief pinpricks of light. Green grass, and the background sounds of running water, and golden scales curled protectively around–

"Wait!"  Kakashi sways as if to stand on his own, and stumbles, but Iruka isn't far, even if he is... angry... and confused... and probably going to eat Kakashi for being a liar, but then again, Iruka lied about being a– being a–

"You must be the great spirit of the river," comes the Sandaime's voice, from somewhere behind his shoulder.

Yep. That was it.  Iruka hissed out something that was probably an acknowledgement and a threat, especially since he can feel Obito and Rin's killing intent suddenly spiking next to him, where they are helping to support him upright along with the rest of their motley collection of ninja trying to form something like a village family.

"Wait."  Kakashi calls out again, and this time his voice is that of Kakashi the field-commander.  Kakashi the Captain.   **_Hound_ ** .  Kakashi unslings his arm from where Obito had slipped it around his neck, and briefly touched their foreheads together.  Kakashi pretends he's still blinking black spots out of his eyes and doesn't see the scowl, but Obito still obligingly takes half a step back.  Rin pauses a moment before doing the same, sending a burst of healing chakra before she lets go, and Kakashi squeezes her shoulder in thanks before he straightens upright.

His steps over to Iruka are measured and even.  Silent, as they should be.  Trust and anger are warring in equal measure in Iruka's eyes as Kakashi approaches, and Kakashi reaches out, careful-hesitant, to trace the scar across his, and the slight hint of bruising from weeks ago, when he had shattered his bo staff 'walking stick' against it in his morning terror.  Iruka huffs and does something that Kakashi might call rolling his eyes, but some of his tension drains away and his protective coils loosen, just enough for Naruto to spring out like the reckless child he is and into Kakashi's expecting arms. Before Iruka can tense up again, Kakashi presses up firmly against his side, and steps deliberately into the protective curve of Iruka's body, before turning to face the village.

"This is the great spirit of this river, and the Shield-Sworn Protector of the chosen-host of the great and honored spirit Kurama of the Nine-Tails."  Naruto, flesh-and-spirit, and the spitting image of his probably-father, looks out at the village in curiosity.  There are not a few inhaled breaths, and he's fairly certain he can see Obito's jaw drop towards the ground just in time for Rin to catch it for him.

"Naruto?"  Naruto turns away from his staring contest with the villagers and turns back to Kakashi.

"If I may beseech, on the behalf of my family, that we may make a home here, under your protection?"

For a moment, Naruto's eyes flash red-gold, and Kakashi finds himself in a dark forest of shadows staring down something unfathomably old, and tinged with a darkness Kakashi knows he holds mirrored deep in his core.  He thinks he hears the voice echoing in his head, but perhaps everyone can.

_ Whatever the brat decides. _

Then Naruto's eyes are blue again, and Kakashi has a kid he's grown rather fond of in his arms.

"You mean, you'll stay?  You won't be leaving?"

Kakashi smiles, soft, "Only if you want me to."

Naruto opens his mouth wide, in the way that, on Obito, means nothing but trouble, but Iruka makes a trilling grunt, and Naruto straightens up, and pastes a passable impression of a child's seriousness.  "Then yes, your plea, on behalf of you and your family is granted."  Then he whispers, perhaps louder than it should be, "was that right?"  Iruka nudges Naruto before signing, and the Sandaime politely pretends he hadn't heard.

Well, since everyone's playing the ignorance game.  Kakashi grins.

"So, Naruto, how would you like to meet Monkey."

This time, Kakashi  _ knows _ he hears Obito groan, and Rin smothering her giggles.  Iruka nudges  _ him _ that time.  Just hard enough that he trips and stumbled back against Iruka's back.

"You are certainly welcome to meet him, too."  Kakashi's grin has grown to something close to face-splitting.  Iruka just snorts.  
  



End file.
